Bon Jovi, Taylor Swift, U2 Among Billboard Touring Awards Finalists

Bon Jovi, Taylor Swift, U2 Among Billboard Touring Awards FinalistsGRAMMY winners Bon Jovi, Taylor Swift, U2, and Usher are among the finalists for the 2011 Billboard Touring Awards, scheduled to take place Nov. 10 in New York. Bon Jovi and U2 are up for the Top Tour and Top Draw honors along with Take That, and GRAMMY-nominated artist Kenny Chesney, Swift and Usher are among the finalists for Top Package. Other awards finalists are Jason Aldean, Katy Perry and Rihanna. Jane's Addiction's Perry Farrell will receive the inaugural Apple Award, honoring a visionary artist or touring professional, and Journey will receive the Legend Of Live honor. In related awards news, British artist Taio Cruz was named Songwriter of the Year and earned Song of the Year honors for "Dynamite" at the 31st annual ASCAP London Awards on Nov. 2. Belgium artist Selah Sue received France's Prix Constantin music prize for her self-titled debut album. (11/3)

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U2 Top Pollstar's Top Tour List

U2 Tops Pollstar's Top Tour ListU2 topped Pollstar's list of top 25 worldwide tours in 2011 with total revenue of $231.9 million over 34 shows. Take That's reunion tour placed second with $224 million, followed by Bon Jovi ($148.8 million), Taylor Swift ($104.2 million), and Roger Waters ($103.6 million). U2 was also Pollstar's top touring act in North America with total revenue of $156 million. Rounding out the top five North American tours were Swift ($97.7 million), Kenny Chesney ($84.6 million), Lady Gaga ($63.7 million), and Bon Jovi ($57.1 million). Pollstar reported a 4 percent year-over-year decline in concert revenue to $1.19 billion in North America in 2011, while worldwide concert revenue remained relatively stable at $2.1 billion. (1/3)

UK Music Sales Down In 2011Total UK music sales, including digital and physical albums, declined 5.6 percent to 113.2 million units in 2011, according to figures released by the Official Charts Company and British labels trade organization the BPI. The companies attribute the decline to the 12.6 percent decrease in CD sales to 86.2 million. Although digital album sales increased 26.6 percent to 26.6 million units in 2011, CD sales account for more than 75 percent of total album sales. Vinyl sales also increased 43.7 percent to 337,000 units. Despite the overall sales decline in the UK, British singer Adele's 21 became the first album since 2005 to achieve 30 weeks of more than 100,000 in sales, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The last album to reach the feat was Usher's Confessions, which sold more than 100,000 units for 33 consecutive weeks from 2004–2005. (1/3)

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Bieber, Eminem Win Big At Billboard Awards

Justin Bieber, Eminem Win Big At Billboard AwardsJustin Bieber and Eminem each won six awards at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards on May 22 in Las Vegas. Bieber's awards included Top New Artist, Top Pop Album and Top Social Artist and Eminem's wins included Top Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album and Top Rap Album. Taio Cruz, Lady Gaga, Mumford & Sons, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, and Usher each took home four awards, while Katy Perry, Shakira, Chris Tomlin, and Train won two awards each. This year's awards marked the first Billboard Music Awards since 2007. (5/23)

Rhone Exits Motown RecordsFollowing Friday's report, Sylvia Rhone has resigned her position as president of Motown Records, according to Billboard.biz. Rhone has not left Universal Music Group entirely and is still considering an offer for an executive position in a new multipurpose company under the UMG umbrella. EVP/GM Pat Monaco will oversee the day-to-day operations of Motown Records while UMG searches for a replacement. (5/23)

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Eminem, Lady A Lead AMA Nods

Eminem, Lady A Lead AMA Nods Nominations for the 2010 American Music Awards were announced yesterday with GRAMMY-winning artists Eminem and Lady Antebellum in the lead with five nominations each, including Artist of the Year, Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Male Artist and Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album for Recovery for Eminem, and Favorite Country Music Band, Duo or Group and Favorite Country Music Album for Need You Now for Lady Antebellum. Justin Bieber followed with four nominations, including Artist of the Year. Also receiving three nods each were B.o.B, Ke$ha, Katy Perry, and Usher. The awards will air live on Nov. 12. (10/13)

Bon Jovi, Gaga, U2 Among Billboard Touring Awards FinalistsGRAMMY winners AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Lady Gaga, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift, and U2, along with Justin Bieber are among the top finalists for the 2010 Billboard Touring Awards, taking place in New York on Nov. 4. The awards will honor artists, tours, venues, and live entertainment firms based on global box office numbers reported to Billboard Boxscore from Oct. 1, 2009 to Sept. 30, 2010. Categories include Top Tour, Top Draw, Top Package, and Top Boxscore. GRAMMY-nominated artists Jack Johnson and Rush will also be feted with Humanitarian Award and Legend of Live honors. (10/13)

Hancock, Simon, Yo-Yo Ma To Honor KennedyGRAMMY winners Julie Andrews, Herbie Hancock, Paul Simon, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma will take part in a performance on Jan. 20 celebrating former President John F. Kennedy and his commitment to the arts. The concert will take place at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and will mark the first in a three-week series of performances and events to mark the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's presidential inauguration. (10/13)

Nine-time GRAMMY winner Mary J. Blige and world-renowned pop tenor Andrea Bocelli will join forces and perform live together in a special fund-raising segment for Haiti relief on the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards. This once-in-a-lifetime performance (audio and video) of the Simon & Garfunkel classic "Bridge Over Troubled Water" will be made available for download at iTunes.com/Target following the telecast, and all proceeds will go to the American Red Cross, benefiting ongoing earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. This year marks the 40th anniversary of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" receiving GRAMMY Awards for Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year and Song Of The Year, and the song will provide a moving tribute to the survivors of the tragic events in Haiti.

Current GRAMMY nominee Mary J. Blige is up for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for "Ifuleave" (with Musiq Soulchild).

All five Album Of The Year nominees are set to perform on Music's Biggest Night: Beyoncé, the Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga, the Dave Matthews Band, and Swift.

As part of Bon Jovi's performance on the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards, fans will have an opportunity to decide which Bon Jovi hit the band will perform. For this "You Pick It, They Play It!" special segment, viewers can log on to CBS.com now and vote in the final round for one out of three of their favorite hit Bon Jovi songs: "Always," "It's My Life," and "Livin' On A Prayer." There is no registration to vote, and fans may vote as often as they wish. Additionally, a 30-second clip of each song may be viewed. Voting will continue until Bon Jovi's performance on the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards on Jan. 31, when the song with the most votes is revealed live during their segment.

Additionally, the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards Pre-Telecast ceremony will take place from 1–4 p.m. PT at the Los Angeles Convention Center and will be streamed live internationally on GRAMMY.com beginning at 1 p.m. PT.

The 52nd GRAMMY Awards will take place live on Sunday, Jan. 31 at Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast in HDTV and 5.1 Surround Sound on the CBS Television Network from 8–11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). The show also will be supported on radio via Westwood One worldwide, and covered online at GRAMMY.com and CBS.com, and on YouTube. Additional performers, presenters and special segments will be announced soon. For GRAMMY coverage, updates and breaking news, please visit The Recording Academy's social networks on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

The 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards are produced by John Cossette Productions and AEG Ehrlich Ventures for The Recording Academy. Ken Ehrlich and John Cossette are executive producers, Louis J. Horvitz is director.

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